Biography
David Scott is a Boston-based conductor, educator, and multi-instrumentalist dedicated to creating immersive musical experiences that connect deeply with listeners through both new and historic repertoire of Western classical music.
On the symphonic stage, Scott has served as a guest, cover, and assistant conductor in both collegiate and professional settings. In 2015 he was appointed Assistant Conductor of the Orange County Youth Symphony, where during his three-year tenure he led subscription and youth concerts. At the same time, he served as Assistant Conductor of the Chapman Orchestra while completing his undergraduate studies. In 2016, Scott served as assistant conductor for Die Fledermaus at the Orange County School of the Arts and was subsequently invited back the following year for their production of L’enfant et les sortilèges. In 2018, he continued his education at California State University, Long Beach, where he was the assistant conductor of the Bob Cole Conservatory Symphony, and named Conducting Fellow for the Long Beach Symphony, leading both subscription and youth performances.
In Fall 2021, Scott returned to Chapman University as a visiting artist, leading rehearsals and concerts with the Chapman Orchestra, and joined the faculty in Spring 2022. In 2024, he relocated to Boston to pursue a Doctor of Musical Arts at Boston University. There, he has conducted the Boston University Symphony and Chamber Orchestras in rehearsal and performance, as well as the Boston University Opera Institute; most notably their performances of The Eleanors, which was its first fully staged production. Most recently, Scott was invited to serve as Assistant Conductor for the Boston Civic Symphony’s first subscription concert of the 2025–2026 season and as cover conductor for the Boston Annex Players.
As an educator, Scott served as Interim Professor of Conducting at Chapman University from 2021 to 2023. In this role, he led rehearsals with the Chapman Orchestra and taught undergraduate conducting students. During his tenure, he expanded the conducting studio and implemented a comprehensive training curriculum that provided students with podium time in front of university ensembles as well as observation opportunities with the Pacific Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has also conducted at visiting orchestra festivals and appeared as a guest conductor at numerous high schools, including University High School, Villa Park High School, and Mt. Whitney High School.
As an instrumentalist, Scott performs on clarinet, saxophone, flute, and keyboards, and has appeared with numerous ensembles throughout his career. He maintained a decade-long tenure in the Top Hat 8 Repertory pit orchestra from 2014 to 2024, where he also arranged, produced, and conducted productions of musicals and operettas.
Scott holds a Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University, Long Beach, where he studied with Johannes Müller Stosch, and a Bachelor’s degree in Conducting Performance from Chapman University. He is currently in his second year of the Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting at Boston University, where he studies with Sarah Ioannides. He has also worked with numerous mentors at festivals and workshops, including Neil Varon, Kenneth Kiesler, Mark Gibson, Guido Rumstadt, John Koshak, and Neil Thompson.